Sony (SNE) on Friday announced that it has made a significant investment in Olympus (OCPNY). In a deal amounting to approximately $644 million, Sony will purchase some 34,387,900 newly issued shares from the struggling camera maker for an 11.46% stake in the company. Sony and Olympus are set to form a joint medical venture that will develop and manufacture surgical endoscopes with 4K resolution and other medical devices, the companies said in a statement. The two manufacturers will also cooperate in the area of digital cameras by exploring opportunities that will be mutually beneficial and enhance their competitiveness. Olympus will supply Sony with various camera technologies such as lenses and mirror cells, while Sony will provide its image sensors to Olympus. More →

Breaking new ground once again, Olympus (OCPNY) announced on Monday it will release two new interchangeable lens cameras: the PEN E-PL5 and the PEN E-PM2. Both cameras pack the power of Olympus’s top-of-the-line OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera, but in bodies with a significantly smaller footprint. Olympus took constructive feedback from last year’s E-PL3 and E-PM1 into consideration and downright addressed it all. Shoppers in the market will be very excited when these two cameras go on sale in October.

Oh, why hello there unreleased handset. The Motorola Olympus has definitely piqued the collective-interests of phone nerds. The device — which is rumored to have a dual-core, Tegra 2 processor — made news on Monday when an AT&T employee declared its release date to be in December or January. From the images we can see the Olympus will have a front-facing camera, rear-facing camera (of an unknown resolution) with flash, 4-inch screen, and HDMI-out port. The device is currently running Android 2.2 with the BLUR interface and will bare the model name MB860. The device’s owner is claiming they “bought it at a flea market”… riiiight. Hit the jump for one more image and let us know what you think. More →

According to whomever is operating the AT&T Share Facebook page, the Motorola Olympus — a dual-core, Tegra 2, Android handset — is due to be release in the very near future. One of our faithful readers pinged AT&T on Facebook inquiring as to when the beast of a handset would be released on Ma’ Bell. The company’s response was rather surprising: “The Motorola Olympus should be available in December or January.” That is the first public acknowledgement of the device’s existence by the nation’s second largest wireless carrier.

As we don’t have to explain to any Android fan currently with AT&T, the company has yet to bring a true, flagship, Android handset to market. Hopefully, with the release of the Olympus, Ma’ Bell can eradicate that not-so-stellar factoid. We’ve reached out to AT&T for comment and will update this post with any additional information provided. What do you think?

Thanks, Scott!

UPDATE: We’re not sure what this means, but AT&T has deleted the response from its Facebook page.

UPDATE 2: Here is AT&T’s official statement regarding the posting: “This response was posted erroneously. We don’t have any information to share about upcoming devices.”More →

Interested in the next generation Motorola Android device to hit AT&T and Verizon? One of our Motorola sources just shot us over some information. The Tegra 2 phone is called (internally) Olympus… More →

The above photograph has been making its way around the technology blogosphere for the past several hours. What we are — allegedly — looking at is an image of Motorola’s first Tegra 2 handset, the Olympus. Purportedly, the device is a dual-core, Android set with a screen size of at least 4-inches; it is also rumored to find a home on either AT&T or Verizon Wireless. If you squint, it looks like the device pictured also contains a front facing camera, which we’re sure will become standard fare on all future high-end smartphones in 2011. There isn’t really much more to be deduced from the image and, unfortunately, the anonymous hand pictured was pretty stingy with specific details. Let us know what you think. More →

We don’t have too much information, but here is what we do know… one of our Motorola sources has confirmed to us that AT&T will be getting one of the hottest devices out of Schaumburg, IL in a little while. We have been told the Motorola Olympus (we’re assuming that is the code name) will be a 4″ tablet style Android device but use a display that is “beautiful,” and will “step it up in resolution.” The phone is also “powered by NVidia.”

Our source promises it’s the finest Android handset to hit AT&T, and from the limited specs we have received, we’re inclined to believe them.

If there is one thing that definitely needs catching up in the gadget industry, it’s battery technology and charging options. Powermat showed us where the future is headed in terms of battery capabilities and new ways to charge them. You’re all probably familiar with how Powermat works: you slip on Powermat’s case onto your iPhone or BlackBerry, or attach the corresponding plug to your device of choice, and place it on the mat for wireless charging. The real issue with current models is that the receivers can be a little gaudy for some of you with Powermat’s bulky cases. In June 2010, however, that’s all going to change. Hit the break for the official press release and more, and some pics of the new Powermat offerings in our gallery!